It has been years since I grew a run from seed instead of rooted cuttings and that was when the first commercially available line came out......Tango. I notice that some new lines are now available and that could change the equation a lot. Growing seed-start NG imps are a little more challanging than yiour buzy lizzies. First off is the longer production time to reach the size you'd expect to buy them if they were sold potted. Under ideal conditons we are talking six to eight weeks to size up. I found them to be more sensitive to growing conditions, especially in regard to growth and proper exposure and watering. They can sit for a long time at a squatty size and will lose their precious leaves if they feel insulted. LOL. I can't complain about how they did eventually when planted outside in my trial beds but it took a lot time for them to kick in compared to those I started from rooted cuttings, and considerably longer to come to bloom. I still think cuttings are the easiest way to go, however, I doubt you'll find any on the market not patented and you can't take cuttings off patented stock. If you have ideal conditions under which to grow them it would be tempting to try it, especially with the new seed introductions. Some seed-grown annuals tradtionally offered only by cuttin are as good or even better than the old varieties. I love the anelonia "Serena" series for example compared to the cutting grown plant. I switched over to it.

I've kept hips for several years and the seeds still germinated for me. You can try soaking them but it might not help. Rose hips are very hard. I just use a good sharp knife an cut them open. Don't worry about cutting the seeds, they're even harder than the hips! After you get them out of the hip clean them really well to get all the bits of hip material off of them. It's thought that there is some kind of enzyme in the hip material that inhibits germination. I put them in a fine sieve and scrub them against the sides under running water. Again, this won't hurt them. Then you can soak them in some hydrogen peroxide for a few minutes. This will keep some of the mold down. Wrap them in a damp paper towel, seal the towel in a plastic zip bag and put them in your fridge for a few weeks. When you check them don't be worried if there's mold on the towel. It doesn't hurt them and there are some studies they say certain molds aid in germination. If they've germinated you'll be able to tell easily. The little greenish white root will be sticking out of the seed. Carefully get the seed out of the paper towel and put it in seed starting mix. If you have starter trays that works best. If not start it in a cup but make sure it's starter soil not potting soil. I don't pot up to potting soil until they have at least 2 sets of true leaves. Put it under lights if you have them. If not in your sunniest window. Like the others have said it will not be "The Doctor" but it's own new variety and depending on how it was pollinated can look behave totally different. Have fun!

These are not cold climate adapted and therefore always keep at it until finally shut down by the seasonal changes - damage to a last, ill-timed gasp of summer activity by the most recent shoot tips is to be expected and cannot be avoided. If you have chosen a locally suitable cultivar and put it in a warm, sunny, well-drained spot then survival of the planting as a whole should not be a problem. If recently planted and you are concerned about winter damage due to lack of full establishment mulch the roots well* to delay or even prevent deep freezing of the soil, retain what summer warmth is left longer than if the soil were bare. *4 inches of wood chips or comparable material spread over an ideally several-foot-wide area but kept from piling against the stems at all times This post was edited by bboy on Fri, Oct 17, 14 at 16:23

I grew 3 NG's from cuttings last year (over the winter) and they did great! It's actually quite easy: I took a 4"-6" fresh side shoot, no buds, and nipped off the last couple of sets of leaves; put them in water by the window, and they grew roots in a couple of weeks. Gave them only afternoon sun from some south facing windows, and they almost outgrew their pots by the summer. The mother plant wasn't in great shape or anything, and had few blooms. I'd do it again, but have only so much sill space for my sprouting this year. BTW, tom8olovr, how big are the NG seeds? I've collected some from mine (the ones from the cuttings), and they are ridiculously small. The regular impatiens seeds are gigantic in comparison. Am I getting them off the plant too soon? I lost some while waiting for the pods to get bigger, and didn't chance it this time. Thanks!